“CENTER OF THE SPIRAL” is an annual end-of-year oneman live for defspiral. For the first time, the event was held at Shinjuku Zirco Tokyo over 2 days in 2016 with two shows based on different concepts. On December 9, the setlist was determined by preliminary voting from the fans, which was conducted until the end of December 8, as “YOUR REQUEST DAY”, and on December 10, the members determined the setlist in response to the fans’ feelings, as “OUR ANSWER DAY”. The annual oneman lives over two days became a precious time for both the members and the fans whose feelings were shared.

The opening music started when the stage was illuminated by red lights, and the fans’ clapping began to welcome the members after the rhythm joined. Drummer MASAKI, bassist RYO, and guitarist MASATO appeared on the stage in order, and last, many fans raised their hands to call for the members after vocalist TAKA hit the stage. “Welcome! Today’s show is different from our usual shows. Let’s have fun! The first song is No. 20, SILVER ARROW!” The catchy melody in the chorus resonated in the fans’ ears comfortably, and the vigorous song with approaching sounds livened up the audience in a burst.

The songs ranked as the “best 20” were performed one after another, and TAKA expressed honest emotion that he was happy when “Hana to Libido” was chosen. The peculiar rhythm was created by the bass, and TAKA sang sexily and breathily, illuminated by the bewitching purple lights. “SNOW”, which was born on a night when the snow lay thick on the ground, was packed with sweetness and heartache. In spite of that the performance and the vocals were powerful, and the venue was filled with gentleness and warmth from the slower melody, and the white lights shone on the stage as if the snow was piling up in the end. In the sad and painful ballad, “NOT ALONE”, TAKA fascinated the audience by putting maddening emotion into his vocals, and MASATO, RYO, and MASAKI performed as if their sounds wrapped and supported the vocals.

“It is cruel to decide ranking. The lowest rank is also chosen. The performance of this song may be the last.” TAKA said jokingly, and exclamations from the fans were filled in the floor when they listened to the intro of “READY OR NOT”. The audience rocked their bodies to the groove to avoid it being the last performance, and they were so excited that it was hard to believe that it was the lowest ranked song. After the band played the second place, “REASON”, into which TAKA unveiled that his past memories were packed, “MELODY” which was chosen as the first place was performed. The high-ranking songs were chose not only as songs to be enjoyed or are exciting to listen to, but those which the FREAKS (defspiral’s fans) really wanted to listen to as good music.

「順位を決めるということは残酷です。ワーストの曲も生まれるんです。もしかしたらこの曲の演奏は最後になるかもしれない。」と冗談交じりにワーストを発表。「READY OR NOT」のイントロを聞いた瞬間、ファンからの驚きの声が会場いっぱいに響き渡る。最後の演奏にはさせまいとそのグルーヴにファンは体を揺らし、最もリクエストが少なかったとは思えないほどの盛り上がりを見せた。そして過去の思い出が詰め込まれていると明かした2位の「REASON」。ラストは1位に選ばれた「MELODY」。楽しいだけではない、盛り上がるだけではない、上位にはFREAKSが名曲として本当に聴きたい曲が選ばれたのだろう。

For the grand love ballad, “ESTRELLA” in the encore, a beautiful starry sky was created by the mirrorball, and the band overwhelmed the audience with their incredible singing skill and performance. MASATO who played each guitar note graciously and soulfully colored the song in the bridge. The last number was “PROGRESS”, in which each member’s power gathered in the chorus, in addition to the drumming suitable for the finale. The members firmly received the feelings from the FREAKS on the first day of their event.

In contrast to “YOUR REQUEST DAY,” the first day, the show on the second day was to deliver the members’ feelings to their FREAKS. The setlist consisted of defspiral’s masterpieces including the standard numbers for their shows even though some of them were not selected by the fans. The band showed various aspects from bright songs to dark songs in “OUR ANSWER DAY”.

The show began with the pleasant tune, “brilliant”, and the audience heated up at once in “SERENADE” which aggressively proceeded from the impressive intro like classical music. “This is our first time to have two days for our annual live at the end of the year. We want to deliver our feelings to everyone, and want to clash with you, and then melt together.” Soon, “IN FLAMES” started, and the passionate atmosphere was made by TAKA’s erotic vocals. For “Canary”, RYO connected the deep sound by swaying his body, using the upright bass. Starting with the drum solo, “RAINBOW” followed when the jazzy rhythm joined. The audience swayed their bodies naturally with enjoyment.

The heavy sound filled the floor in “GLARE”, and MASATO’s rich guitar not only produced heartache but also had an impact on the music. For “SALVAGE”, which was made by everyone crashing into each other between the stage side and the floor side to their hearts’ content, the fans excited by headbanging, bending, and jumping in bursts. “Let me hear your loudest voices today! This is the last song! SILVER ARROW!” The fans’ especially loud voices echoed in the venue to respond to TAKA’s cry. The song, which was played as the first song on the first day, became the last song of the main set on the second day. Although the songs which were played for both days were not so many, this song played as the first song and the last song for two days would have an important meaning as REQUEST and ANSWER.

「GLARE」では重厚なサウンドが会場を満たし、MASATOの激しいギターが切なさを醸し出すだけではなく曲にインパクトを与える。そしてステージ側とフロアー側の両方が思い切りぶつけ合い作られる楽曲「SALVAGE」ではヘドバン、折り畳み、ジャンプと一気に会場は熱気を帯びる。「今日一番でかい声を届けてくれるか？This is the last song! SILVER ARROW！」TAKAの叫びに応えるように一際大きなファンの声が響いた。初日では最初に演奏された楽曲が2日目の本編ラストの曲となった。両日演奏された曲は数多くないが、最初と最後に演奏されたこの曲はREQUESTとしてもANSWERとしても重要な意味を持つのだろう。

Before the encore, there were some announcements of TAKA’s and MASAKI’s birthday events, a oneman tour to be started from April, and the seventh anniversary show as a final show of the oneman tour. Those announcements delighted the fans. The encore consisted of early numbers, “Twilight”, “RESISTANCE”, and “LOTUS”, and there was one more announcement at the end. Their new single, “AFTERGLOW”, will be released in February 2017, and the song was performed ahead of the release. The song was very defspiral-ish, rock and powerful, and at the same time melodious and painful. The early performance became a present with the members’ feelings towards their FREAKS.

The audience demanded a double encore, and after the members came back to the stage, RYO happily said, “When you ask us to play so much, we have no choice but to play. But only one more song!” For a finale, the band played the vibrant and lively tune, “CARNAVAL”. The members and the audience became unified in the bright song, and finally, the two-day annual oneman live was ended. The year 2016 began with MASAKI’s hiatus, but defspiral continued their activities with the three members until MASAKI’s return in summer, and they never stopped. Now, the band has re-started with their new determination with the four members, and their activities in 2017 have been announced one after the other. The future activities of defspiral are worth watching.